inspection of paint... am i doing anything wrong?

[baseballlover1]

I have noticed that other people (todd in particular) can take pics a HELL of a lot better then i can even inspect paint by my eye. I have 2 sets of halogen work lights and also a cm350 hand held paint matcher. And i CANNOT take pics like todd.



Is it my lack of wiping the surface with prep-sol?



If it is what prep-sol should i get?

[Todd@RUPES]

Daniel, your confusing me with your post dude.



Are you worried about seeing the defects or soley the picture aspect of it?

[imported_DetailDan]

Its all about the angles and focusing technique.

[baseballlover1]

Daniel, your confusing me with your post dude.



Are you worried about seeing the defects or soley the picture aspect of it?

I am worried about not being able to inspect my work. Im saying that i cannot inspect my work by eye half as good as you take pictures of your work.



Do you turn the lights off except for the halogens/HID light?

[Envious Eric]

naked eye and full sun are the best for checking work...



the shots that Todd, and many others get, come from having the right settings on your camera for the right setting the car is in...



as in when the sun is directly above, use XXX setting, when its dusk time, use YYY settings, and when its in a garage, use ZZZ setting....

[Accumulator]

Heh heh, I`ve been into photography in a pretty serious way since the `70s and I *still* can`t get pics that show marring all that great :nixweiss



But yeah, turn out the other lights; a lot of it is a matter of contrast.

[baseballlover1]

i am not saying that i am trying to get better with photography skills (even though that would be nice if i could capture my work as well), i just want to be able to inspect my work for myself in the best manor possible.

[imported_DetailDan]

Angles and proper light then. Dont look at the paint straight on.

[danponjican]

I think one of the biggest mistakes people make when attempting to capture paint defects in pictures is to allow the camera to auto focus. If you allow the camera to auto focus, it will try to focus on the reflection rather than the surface of the paint (where the defects are). So in effect, the defects are out of focus because the focal point is an imaginary point several feet past the surface of the paint in to the reflection.



Many times, shots of the paint look amazing, but the camera is completely focused on something that is considerable far away from that paint. Think of it this way... a defect (swirl-scratch) is smaller than a strand of human hair. Hold a hair 10 feet or even 4 feet behind a person you are taking a photo of. Do you think the picture will capture that hair? Not likely. It would be hard to capture that single strand of hair even if you were trying... this is why you need to help (trick) the camera to focus on it.



The trick is to use something on the surface to help the camera focus exactly on the surface and not past it into the reflections. Two popular solutions are to use a tape line or just lay your finger on the paint and kinda point to the defect. Once you capture to focus on the defect, you can remove your finger (or leave it there).

[imported_DetailDan]

I think one of the biggest mistakes people make when attempting to capture paint defects in pictures is to allow the camera to auto focus. If you allow the camera to auto focus, it will try to focus on the reflection rather than the surface of the paint (where the defects are). So in effect, the defects are out of focus because the focal point is an imaginary point several feet past the surface of the paint in to the reflection.



The trick is to use something on the surface to help the camera focus exactly on the surface and not past it into the reflections. Two popular solutions are to use a tape line or just lay your finger on the paint and kinda point to the defect. Once you capture to focus on the defect, you can remove your finger (or leave it there).

Exactly, thats why I always recommend manual focusing cameras. You can always tell whether or not the person is focusing correctly.

[SuperBee364]

The trick is to use something on the surface to help the camera focus exactly on the surface and not past it into the reflections. Two popular solutions are to use a tape line or just lay your finger on the paint and kinda point to the defect. Once you capture to focus on the defect, you can remove your finger (or leave it there).

That right there just solved the majority of my defect shooting problems.

[imported_DetailDan]

Heres some example pictures I took back in Jan. I was going to make a thread about this very thing, but decided against it.



Improper focusing- notice the surface appears to be in perfect condition.





Proper focusing- using manual focus allows you to focus on the paint and not the reflection.

[SuperBee364]

Dan, that is a great example. Wow, those defects were hiding in plain sight.

[imported_JoshVette]

Dan, try it at night in the garage, turn off all the lights except the halogens and then focus the camera on the paint and not the reflection.



Try shooting it from a 45 degree angle opposite of the lighting.



Assuming you have a digital, look at the LCD until you can see the damage, move it around if you have too, then snap it.



Also the environment and cloud cover makes for nice after pics so it depends on where you`re at and what`s around you that will play apart in the photo.

[baseballlover1]

haha aaight i am hoping to have a few cars to work on after school ends and exams are over. I will do some write ups with the cars. Hopefully all higher end cooler cars so the pictures will be enjoyable (even if my detailing isnt )